Since we’re catching up with Midway news today, it might be prudent to mention that Midway rep, Jay Boor informed us that he had no knowledge whatsoever of a version of Artic Thunder being in development for GameCube. What happened? Well, the only evidence of its existence was this report, which originally ran on Gaming Age. Has something changed between now and then? We’re not sure… But for now, the official word is that Artic Thunder isn’t GameCube bound.

We’ll let you know if anything changes.

Last updated: 03/17/2001

After getting two successful and very different road racing series off the ground in the form of San Francisco RUSH and Cruisn’ USA, it appears Midway decided that the world of asphalt was sufficiently played out. So what’s a company to do when it seems to have a good thing going in the racing genre but doesn’t want to keep doing more of the same? Why, you move the racing off the roads and into other elements.

Beginning with the popular Hydro Thunder, Midway did a pretty solid job of mixing over-the-top racing, outrageous short-cut action, and just enough thrills to keep people pumping in quarters in the arcades and picking up the game to play at home. Apparently not wanting to make a Hydro Thunder 2, Midway instead has now turned their attention to snow-covered landscapes, leaving an arcade experience that people were likely to love or hate.

When hitting the powder for the first time in Thunder the first thing that jumps out at you is an immediate sense of déjà vu if you are at all familiar with Hydro Thunder. Jumps, some wild theming, all sorts of hidden short cuts, and being constantly hounded by opponents who don’t seem to share the limitations your vehicle has, often whipping by effortlessly only to be overtaken if you hit the boost strips properly.

About the only major change that has been made to this copy of the Hydro Thunder formula is the addition of power-ups and replacement of turbos with said boost strips placed all about the track. This change does lend to a more ‘kart racing’ feel. Missiles, defensively oriented power-ups, health power-ups, and one special power-up that unleashes all sorts of fury on your opponents help mix things up.

We'll see how this arcade conversion does on the GameCube hardware. Utilizing the multi-player immediately available with 4-player split screen this game could provide some quick and easy party fun...hopefully there'll be some possible network action as well though, pulling up the likely short-lived single-player thrills with a guarantee of heated net competition. Here's hoping for the best.